Thomas Theisman
Thomas Edward Theisman was a Havenite citizen, an officer in the Havenite Navy, and an influential politician. Physical appearance He had brown hair and was considered to be ordinary looking; he was also described as stocky. ( , ) Biography Early life Theisman was born in Nouveau Paris on Haven. His mother, who worked as a prostitute, abandoned him and he was raised in a orphanage, then went to High School before joining the Navy. ( ) People's Republic In 1903 PD, Theisman held the rank of Commander and commanded the destroyer [[PNS Breslau|PNS Breslau]]. In accordance with Operation Jericho, Commander Theisman and a some of the crew of the Breslau were retained in the Navy of Masada to help operate the Breslau, which was officially renamed to MNS Principality. Theisman had previously served with his mentor, Captain Alfredo Yu, who chose him to serve with him in Operation Jericho. He requested reinforcements when Principality was assigned to patrol near Uriel, but was denied by Admiral Ernst Franks. He did not like working with the Masadans. His frustration with Admiral Franks was evident when Franks wanted the Masadan vessels to hide behind Blackbird Base's defenses, which Theisman thought to be the stupidest plan he had ever heard of. Commander Theisman was able to heavily damage [[HMS Apollo|HMS Apollo]], a Royal Manticoran Navy light cruiser, before Principality was turned into a floating hulk and captured. He was taken aboard [[HMS Fearless (CA-286)|HMS Fearless]] and questioned by Captain Honor Harrington. He denied being from Haven until Breslau s original builder's plaque was discovered by Harrington's crew. He did offer up information about survivors from [[HMS Madrigal|HMS Madrigal]] at Blackbird Base because he felt that they were not safe in Masadan custody. Theisman was present when Harrington received a report from Fritz Montoya about the injuries to Mercedes Brigham and Mai-ling Jackson. He was visibly sickened by the Masadans' treatment of their captives, expressing his sorrow and readiness to testify against Captain Williams and the other Masadan officers. ( ) Just prior to the outbreak of the First Havenite-Manticoran War, he served as captain of the heavy cruiser [[PNS Sword|PNS Sword]] under the command of Commodore Annette Reichman in a raid against a Manticoran convoy and its escort under the command of Captain Helen Zilwicki. ( ) War with Manticore In the opening stages of the war, he made a recommendation to Commodore Reichman that she ignored, resulting in her being shot by the new regime and Theisman getting a promotion to Rear Admiral. He was then assigned to Task Force 14 as commander of its second task group. As such, he took part in Operation Dagger, which required him to follow Vice Admiral Alexander Thurston to Yeltsin's Star and then proceed to Endicott. When Thurston's force was destroyed by Honor Harrington's Battle Squadron 1, Theisman turned around to engage her, but his People's Commissioner, Denis LePic, ordered him to break off when several additional superdreadnought signatures appeared near the hyper limit.They were actually false signals created by recon drones. ( ) Restoration of the Republic After his assignment to Capital Fleet, Theisman discovered the late Esther McQueen's plot to overthrow Oscar Saint-Just. He completed the task, executing Saint-Just personally during the attack on the chairman's office in the People's Tower. Theisman then ordered Admiral Javier Giscard and his People's Commissioner Eloise Pritchart home to Haven, and with their help, restored the pre-DuQuesne Plan constitution of the Republic. Theisman himself did not want to run for the newly resurrected post of President. Instead he accepted the posts of Secretary of War and Chief of Naval Operations in Pritchart's cabinet. ( , ) Together with President Pritchart, Theisman did his best to restore the Republic and the Navy to their former glory, and was able to score a number of victories against the Star Kingdom of Manticore. Eventually, he supported Pritchart's decision to send most of Haven's offensive forces to attack the Manticoran capital system, leading to the greatest space battle in history. ( ) In the aftermath of the Havenite defeat at Manticore, Theisman continued to lead the Navy from within the rebuilt Octagon. When Admiral Harrington arrived in the Haven System with an offer to resume the peace talks, he was the one notifying President Pritchart of her arrival. ( ) Grand Alliance As the Secretary of War, he was one of the Cabinet members who accompanied President Pritchart to Manticore after the return of Anton Zilwicki and Victor Cachat. After the formation of the Grand Alliance, he handed command of Grand Fleet's Second Fleet to Lester Tourville, instead participating in the Second Battle of Manticore from Honor Harrington's flag deck in order to provide incontrovertible proof that Manticore and Haven were truly allies. ( ) Like most key Alliance personnel, he was assigned a treecat bodyguard. His personal companion was Springs From Above, whose personality complemented Theisman's own very well. ( ) Service Record Promotions * Commander – before or in 1903 PD ( ) * Captain – before or in 1905 PD ( ) * Rear Admiral – before or in 1907 ( ) * Admiral – before 1911 PD ( ) Posts and duties * Commanding Officer, [[PNS Breslau|PNS Breslau]]/ MNS Principality – 1903 PD * member of the last prewar promotion board * Commanding Officer, [[PNS Sword|PNS Sword]] - flag captain, Cruiser Squadron 9 – 1905 PD * Commanding Officer, Task Group 14.2flagship - [[PNS Conquérant|PNS Conquérant]] * acting Commanding Officer, Task Force 14 – 1907 PD, after Fourth Battle of Yeltsin's Star * Commanding Officer, Seabring System Defence Command – before 1911 PDflagship - PNS Conquérant * Commanding Officer, Barnett System Defence Command – before or in 1911 PD - 1915 PD * Commanding Officer, Capital Fleet – 1915 PD * Chief of Naval Operations and Secretary of War – since 1915 PD ** Member of the Grand Alliance Joint Chiefs of Staff The post of Chief of the Joint Chiefs rotated monthly between First Space Lord Caparelli of the RMN, High Admiral Yanakov of the GSN and Secretary of War/Chief of Naval Operations Theisman of the RHN. (See 'Joint Chiefs of Staff (Grand Alliance)' for more details). References Theisman, Thomas Theisman, Thomas Theisman, Thomas Theisman, Thomas Theisman, Thomas Theisman, Thomas Theisman, Thomas